How to feed the yellow-margined box turtle? Detailed guidance on the correct feeding method

The Chinese name is yellow-margined box turtle, the Latin name is Cistoclemmys flavomarginata, and the English name is Yellow-margined Box Turtle. It is also known as duanban turtle, jiashe turtle, huangban turtle, and yellow-margined closed-shell turtle.

It belongs to the family Geoemydidae and the genus Cuora.

In China, it is mainly distributed in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Henan, Hong Kong, China, Jiangsu, Taiwan, China, Zhejiang, Macao, China, and Hubei; abroad, it is mainly distributed in places such as Kyushu Island in Japan.

The head is smooth, the front of the snout is flat, and the upper beak has a distinct hook-like curve. The top of the head is olive-colored, with a yellow "U"-shaped arc stripe behind the eyes. The eyes are large, and the tympanum is clear. The carapace is dark red or brownish red, rather highly domed, with a prominent central keel that is pale yellow, and the concentric rings on each scute are relatively clear. The plastron is dark brown; the carapace and plastron, as well as the pectoral scutes and abdominal scutes, are connected by ligaments. The front and rear edges of the plastron are semicircular and without notches. The limbs are grayish brown, slightly flattened, and covered with scales. There is semi-webbing between the fingers and toes, and the tail is short.

In nature, the yellow-margined box turtle inhabits forest edges, weeds, and shrubs in hilly and mountainous areas, in relatively quiet places such as under tree roots and in rock crevices. Its activity areas are shaded and not far from stream valleys with flowing water. It likes to live in groups, and multiple turtles are often seen in the same burrow. Its diurnal and nocturnal activity patterns vary with the seasons.

The yellow-margined box turtle is a semi-aquatic turtle and cannot live in deep water. Under artificial keeping conditions, in April to May and September to November, when the temperature reaches 18 to 22°C, the turtle is less active in the morning and evening and more active around noon; from June to August each year, when the temperature is 25 to 34°C, the turtle is mainly active at night, early morning, or dusk, and hides in burrows, trees, or sand during the day. If it is the rainy season, it often goes outside the burrow to get rained on.

From December to January to March of the following year is the turtle's hibernation period. When the temperature is 19°C, the turtle stops eating; when the temperature drops to around 10°C, the turtle enters hibernation. During hibernation, it likes to hide in burrows, under piles of branches, or beneath thicker layers of withered grass, and mostly in sunny, wind-sheltered places. When the temperature is 13°C, the turtle wakes again.